Jacoby Brissett lets his emotions run free and leads the Patriots to victory

CINCINNATI — When the Patriots buses arrived at Paycor Stadium on Sunday, Jacoby Brissett’s tears began to flow. Then he cried again during warmups. And again when he came to the huddle in the first quarter.

“I think I cried three times before the game,” Brissett said after leading the Patriots to a 16-10 win over the Bengals. “I was definitely emotional. That kind of thing doesn’t happen often, and I don’t take it for granted.”

Sunday’s game was Brissett’s 49th start of his NFL career, but his first since Thanksgiving weekend 2022. He’s bounced around the league, from New England to Indianapolis to Miami to Cleveland to Washington and back to New England again. For the past four years, he’s been a backup, waiting patiently on the bench, not knowing if days like Sunday would ever come again. There were even rumors that rookie Drake Maye could overtake Brissett as the starter in Week 1.

“I cried when (Jerod) Mayo came to me before the game,” Brissett said. “He started laughing and said, ‘Man, you’re going to win this game. You’re going to get really into it.’ I had never heard a coach say that before, and it meant a lot to me.”

Mayo would prove to be forward-thinking, and the decision to stick with Brissett instead of Maye at the start of the season proved to be the right one.

“Jacoby played great – that’s our guy,” said left tackle Vederian Lowe. “He’s our captain for a reason and he’s the guy who’s going to lead our offense.”

Although Brissett was unable to shine, completing 15 of 24 passes for 121 yards, he led his team to a surprise victory with smart and savvy play.

Brissett completed a few key passes, but his best plays were the ones he avoided – turnovers and sacks. The Bengals defense broke through several times and was able to get to Brissett a few times, but he finished the game with just one sack for minus-1 yard and no interceptions or fumbles.

“He’s just the ultimate leader,” running back Rhamondre Stevenson said. “It’s easy to follow his lead and follow his lead.”

Brissett navigated the pocket well, slipped through the rush and gained 35 yards on four scrambles (no kneeling), three of which moved the chains, including twice on third down.

“He showed a lot of grit,” receiver KJ Osborn said. “He got pressured a couple times and kept us on the field, which is really underrated and really important for us.”

Brissett appeared calm while running Alex Van Pelt’s offense. That connection began in 2022 when Brissett started 11 games with Van Pelt and the Browns during Deshaun Watson’s suspension. It looked like Brissett and Van Pelt were picking up right where they left off two years ago.

“It was great,” Mayo said. “He made plays with his legs, he made plays with his arm. He’s a tough guy, he took some hits all game — I was just like, ‘Man, get up’ — and he did everything we asked him to do.”

Not only did Brissett avoid sacks and turnovers, he ran the operation smoothly, and the offense only had to commit three penalties (one of which was intentional). Brissett also managed the clock masterfully, using 7:20 on the Patriots’ only touchdown drive, skilfully running the clock down to 0:00 on the field goal drive at the end of the second quarter, and running the clock down 7:24 with another field goal in the fourth quarter. The Patriots held the ball 8:06 longer than the Bengals.

These reasons – and not pure passing statistics – are why the Patriots chose the 31-year-old Brissett rather than the 22-year-old Maye at the start of the season.

“He’s a real veteran, man – played a lot of football, super cool, calm and collected,” tight end Hunter Henry said. “Great checks, great plays at the right time, was great with his feet too. Made some great conversions on third down to keep some drives going.”

Brissett appeared a little shy after the game, but seemed to enjoy the opportunity to celebrate with his teammates and speak at the podium as the team’s starting quarterback.

Brissett has come a long way to get back to this position.

“That was awesome, man – that’s a great team win in all three phases of the game,” he said. “To finish the game on the road with a win, it doesn’t get much better than that. I’m just proud of the job we did.”

Read more about the Patriots’ Week 1 win

Ben Volin can be reached at [email protected].